


You'd come over, right?

by Ladyinbooks



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Earthquakes, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Break Up, but it's not that severe, if you think of anything else i should add lmk, it's a big part of the plot, some light mentions of alcohol and recreational drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27184625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladyinbooks/pseuds/Ladyinbooks
Summary: Louis doesn’t really feel it at first.He is in traffic and thinks the swaying is just the usual car movement, but then people start leaving their cars and they all look worried. When he stands on the pavement, he finally understands why.A look at the woman standing next to him confirms what he had been thinking, it has been a while since one this strong, or this long.What if the world ends today and I never get to talk to him again, is what goes through his mind.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 50
Collections: 1d Breakup Fic Fest





	You'd come over, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll add more notes when authors are revealed. If you have any questions about it before reading let me know!

Louis doesn’t really feel it at first.

He is in traffic and thinks the swaying is just the usual car movement, but then people start leaving their cars and they all look worried. When he stands on the pavement, he finally understands why.

A look at the woman standing next to him confirms what he had been thinking, it has been a while since one this strong, or this long.

_ What if the world ends today and I never get to talk to him again _ , is what goes through his mind.

After what feels like hours but was probably just under ten minutes, the earthquake finally stops, but the disorienting feeling doesn’t go away. 

His first concrete thought is checking if his family is okay, but one look at their group chat confirms that yes, they are all fine, shaken up but fine, and are asking for him.

**_I was on my way to work, everything is okay, guess I won’t make it in time, though_ ** , he texts them.

His mom tells him to call her, but when he tries, the call won’t connect, something must have been damaged during the earthquake, or maybe, there’s just too many people trying to call their loved ones. At that thought, he gets an itch to call, or even just text, a certain someone, but he doesn’t think he has the right to do that anymore.

He gets inside his car because the heat is starting to get stifling, and he wonders when the traffic is going to start moving again. After a brief call to his boss, he gets the okay to skip work that day since most of his co-workers haven’t made it to the office either and he’s not going to be the one to refuse a free Friday.

It’s been around half an hour already when Louis decides to go outside his car again to check what’s going on.

The people he saw in the cars near his earlíer seem to have had the same idea since a group of them is already discussing what to do.

“Hello, sorry, do you know why this isn’t moving?” he asks three of them who are standing on the curb with red faces and sweat wetting their shirts. Did it really have to be one of the warmest days of the year when this happened?

“Apparently there was a pretty nasty accident further along, a truck ended upside down and a few other cars crashed into each other, just chaos, apparently, no one is severely hurt.” Answers a man who seems to be in his forties.

“We were just discussing ways to get out of here. I have to get to work.” Says a young woman with a thick accent. 

“I think our best option is to wait until it lets up a little bit and take the next exit.” Louis proposes while wishing he had brought his water bottle instead of leaving it at the office.  _ He always told you to carry it with you everywhere. _ Supplies, unhelpfully, his brain.

“Don’t think so, son.” Talks a man who by the looks of it could be Louis’ grandfather. It seems like he is the one driving the big pickup truck behind his own car. “The traffic lights are not working in most of the city, it would be impossible and extremely dangerous for us to do that. Not to mention that there’s no way traffic will let up that much, and that is not just as bad everywhere else.”

Louis feels like he’s fifteen again and getting a talking to for getting home past curfew.

“We were saying that it’s probably better to find somewhere to park and wait a few hours until things are normal again, we just need to wait until we can.”

He agrees with them and announces he’s going to wait in the car.

It’s about two hours later when they start moving, but it seems like it's only because people are being directed by the police to the nearest exit and other side streets. 

He drives trying to find some way to get home, but a quick look at his GPS shows that the traffic is pretty bad almost everywhere, so he decides to stop trying and wait a few hours to see if it gets better.

He parks in front of a little cafe in a somewhat quiet street and goes in, orders his usual tea, and sits down at a table in front of the big windows.

With the blessed coolness of the indoors and a nice cup of tea in his hand, he lets his mind wander.

* * *

It was a Friday night after a particularly tiring week at work that he and his best friend, Liam, decided to go to their usual bar nearby to let off some steam.

They had already finished a pretty intense and increasingly drunken, game of pool when two guys, one bleached blond and one curly-haired, approached them to ask if they could join in.

Louis was finishing his third (fourth?) pint when he looked up to tell them it was alright and connected eyes with who was probably one of the most handsome men he had seen in his life. 

Which promptly causes him to choke on his sip of beer. Just his luck.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Rushes the beautiful boy while the other guy just looks confused and Liam is laughing, that fucker knows what is going on.

“I’m fine,” Louis says, still a little choked, “it just went down the wrong way.”

He clears his throat hoping to get rid of all the evidence of his embarrassment and extends a hand to the boy.

“I’m Louis, pleasure to meet you.” The other boy smiles and takes his hand.

“Harry, and this is my friend, Niall” Louis and bleach-blond, now Niall, shake hands. “I hope you don’t mind us joining in. I can assure you won’t lose your winning streak, I am a bit hopeless and Niall is better at darts than pool.”

“Well, Harold, that has just convinced me. I might even have to coach you.” Louis is definitely flirting and Harry is definitely blushing.

“I think that might be more than okay.” Harry sends him a flirty smile and they start the game when Niall calls them out.

After Harry plays a couple of times they all realize he’s full of shit, but no one says anything and Louis keeps pretending to teach him

By the end of the night, Louis does lose his winning streak, but the new group chat he is on and the fact that he might or might not have a date in a few days more than make up for it.

* * *

Harry is at home, in his kitchen, making his morning coffee, when it happens. 

He puts Nicky, his 5-month old-puppy, on a leash and goes outside.

He feels fairly calm since it's not the first time this has happened, and while it is a stronger one than usual, it’s not as bad as it gets.

After around 5 minutes it stops but he waits for 10 more before going inside again in case there’s another one, but decides to call his mom and ask how she is. When the call doesn’t go through, he texts her and his sister and after getting a response they chat for a while, and then he has to pick up Nicky’s business because apparently, she decided to make the most out of the unexpected outing, which means it has been a bit more than half an hour when he goes inside again.

He turns the tv on to watch the news and check everything is okay while turning his computer on and deciding to start working on editing that article he has been putting off for so long. Seems like today is going to be the perfect day for some editing work.

Turns out there was an accident that has collapsed most of the city’s traffic, and not for the first time he is glad he works from home.

It’s been around an hour of solid working when he realizes he left his coffee in the kitchen and goes to throw it out because it’s probably gross by now, but when he enters the kitchen, he sees the mug is shattered on the floor, he sends a quick thanks that Nicky hadn’t come wandering in here and hurt herself and starts cleaning.

When he kneels on the floor, he is reminded of a similar situation a couple of months back.

* * *

They had just gotten home from a date. Harry had stopped counting after the third one.

They were ready to go upstairs when Louis suddenly stopped and started demanding tea.

Harry, as proof of how whipped he was, immediately got to work, but even though Louis was the one who wanted it, he made it nearly impossible for Harry to accomplish it with his kisses and teasing.

While the kettle boiled, the unfair treatment continued, Harry complained but he really didn’t mind. He poured them both a mug when it was ready and they both drank it while looking at each other and giggling.

“Wait!” Louis screamed suddenly. Harry shushed him because it was 3 am and he didn’t fancy an angry Doris, his neighbour, at his front door tomorrow morning, when he would undoubtedly have a hangover.

That just made Louis break into a fit of giggles, which meant Harry followed suit too with his arms around Louis’ shoulders where he pressed himself against his chest.

“No, really.” Louis was still giggling when he drew back and put down his mug on the counter they were both leaning against. “This is important, Harold. Listen to me.”

He clears his throat for added effect and then bursts into giggles again, and now Harry is convinced he is just fucking with him.

“C’mon, Lou, finish your tea and let’s go to bed, you’re drunk.” He laughs and drains the last sip of tea off of his cup, leaving it in the sink for tomorrow.

“No! Listen to me!” Harry gives Louis an expecting look because he knows he will never cooperate with going to bed if he doesn’t get to say whatever he wants to first. “I… I hope you never go bald ‘cause I really love your hair and I want to play with it for the rest of eternity.”

“Um… Thanks?” Says Harry confusedly which makes Louis burst into giggles again.

Only this time, when he goes in to press his forehead against Harry’s chest, his elbow pushes his cup of tea off of the counter where he had left it, making a mess of shards and tea on the kitchen floor.

“Oops?” He seems to have sobered up a bit now, but he also looks about ready to fall asleep, the high from the kissing and giggling gone. “I will clean it, sorry.”

“No, babe, don’t worry.” Harry interrupts him before he can move. “I will clean it, you go to sleep.”

“But, it’s my mess, I have to-” Harry gives him a quick peck on the lips to stop him.

“Go to sleep, I will clean and breakfast is on you tomorrow, ok?” Louis nods even though they both know Harry is going to be the one making food bright and early tomorrow morning to fight off their hangovers. “Careful with your feet!”

Louis blows him a kiss from the entryway after skipping around to avoid cutting his feet and Harry gets to work.

It doesn’t take him that long to clean the tea and sweep the floor, and when he enters his bedroom with two glasses of water from when they wake up to find Louis asleep with only his face and fluffy hair peeking from the covers he thinks that yes, he would very much like to play with that hair for the rest of eternity too.

* * *

Louis has been at the same coffee shop for a while answering emails with what can be solved from afar and assuring he is going to be at the office bright and early on Monday for those that can’t, when he realizes he has already drunk four cups of tea and eaten a sandwich, and that it’s probably time to go home.

It takes a couple of tries to start his car, it has been like that for some time, but no matter who tells him he should get that fixed or how many times they do, he never pays much attention to it.

When he gets home he lets Clifford in from where he was in the backyard, checks everything is okay in his house and changes into old sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt.

A night of junk food and shitty tv shows sounds like the perfect thing, but first, he has to get through a few more hours to prove he is a responsible, self-sufficient, grown-up human.

He puts together a quick but healthy lunch of chicken, salad and potatoes, transfers a load of clothing that was in the washing machine into the dryer, and answers some more emails. Grown-up things, indeed. 

After spending half an hour trying to fix a particularly complicated issue with a customer, he decides to leave it until Monday and call it a day, he isn’t really working today but he didn’t want to get behind and spend all of next week suffering because of it.

He goes to the backyard and plays with Clifford for a while but when he realizes he is not going to tire him out, he decides to take him on a walk around the neighbourhood. When they get to the park he lets him roam free and do his business where he pleases, but keeping an eye on him so he can pick it up and throw it away, giving a woman who doesn’t do that a nasty look.

When he gets back home, the night has already fallen, so he takes a beer and a pint of ice cream out of the fridge so he can lay on the couch and not give a damn for the rest of the day, and maybe even the weekend, but when he is on his way, Clifford goes running past him and pushes him against the wall.

“Clifford! No running in the house! Bad boy.” He says sternly and his dog lowers his head and goes to lay on his bed in the corner of the room.

He looks down and assesses the damage. It seems like he only spilled a bit of his beer on his clothes, but that’s no problem at all since he wasn’t dressed to go out anyways. 

Clifford doesn’t go lay down with him when he sits on the sofa and one look at him confirms that he’s looking at Louis with those eyes only dogs can make at you when they have been bad, so he immediately feels sorry and pats the couch beside him, calling him. He responds immediately.

“You’re not a bad boy, are you, Cliff?” he scratches his head where it’s lying on his knee, “You’re just a big oaf, a giant. You’re not bad.” 

Louis keeps scratching Clifford’s head and cooing at him until the dog himself deems it enough and lies down beside him on the couch, falling asleep and snoring before the movie Louis put on has reached the 10-minute mark, the walk tiring him after all.

* * *

“Haz, I just had an idea.” Louis says on a Sunday afternoon while they are lying on his couch watching TV. Harry turns his head and looks at him suspiciously.

“I am not helping you pull that blue hair prank on Niall, Louis. That key is for emergencies.” says Harry as if he has repeated the same thing more than a couple of times, which he has, but, rude.

“For the record, I still think that would be an  _ amazing _ idea but whatever, I will figure it out on my own, you unhelpful boyfriend.” He huffs like that is going to hide the way he smiles at the still-new-but-turned-two-months-old-past-Friday term. “But I was talking about something else. Hear me out, okay?”

“Alright, let’s hear it.” Harry pauses the movie they had on so he can give him his full attention.

“I want to get a dog.” Louis looks at Harry as if asking for his opinion but Harry can only smile back at him. “What? Too crazy?”

“Not at all, I know you love dogs, was actually wondering when you’d get one.” Louis smiles even bigger at that and stands up from the couch.

“Then let’s go. If we leave now we’ll make it in time to the refuge.” 

He basically runs to the door to put on shoes and Harry follows suit.

They get to the refuge and walk around meeting and petting different dogs for about twenty minutes when Louis suddenly gasps and points at a fluffy black dog. 

The woman from the shelter who is accompanying them, Lisa, smiles and unlocks the dog’s cage door and it immediately comes bounding out to lick Louis’ face where he has kneeled down to greet him.

“This is Clifford, he is 3 months old and he is going to grow a lot” Lisa informs them with a soft smile. “He is the staff’s favourite, the sweetest boy.”

“I can see that.” Harry says smiling at Louis petting Clifford, and the smile Louis sends him back gives him a funny feeling in his stomach. “So he is going to be a giant?”

“Seems like I have a thing for curly giants.” Says Louis with a twinkle in his eyes.

Later in the car, with his new baby in the back, Louis turns to him with that same smile.

“I love you, thank you for doing this with me.” He says and leans in to kiss him, but before he can, Harry stops him.

“I love you too, darling. So much.” And then they kiss for as long as their smiles, and Clifford barking, let them.

* * *

Remembering that day makes Louis miss Harry, simple as that.

He misses laying with him and Clifford and just talking, or even not talking and being in comfortable silence. He misses sleeping beside him almost every night, he misses his food, he misses his laugh, he misses everything and the worst thing is that it is his fault for being stubborn without any reason. 

He finishes his beer and starts debating whether he should open another one or just go to sleep. 

But he gets a better idea, he is going to fix what he did three months ago.

* * *

“Louis, we need to get going!” Harry yells towards the bedroom while adjusting his hair in the mirror Louis has in the hallway.

“I’m not going.” Louis yells back from where he is stubbornly laying in his bed in sweatpants, a t-shirt and a beanie.

“Oh c’mon! Louis, you know how important this is for me!” Harry stands at the bedroom door looking exasperated.

“And you knew how tired I was today and you didn’t care!” Louis looks at him boredly, but he can feel his temper rising.

Harry is about to retort when a newly 5-month-old Clifford starts barking loudly when a car honks.

“Niall is here to pick you up, you can go and have fun at this party, and interview Mr. Famous who couldn’t have a party on a Friday but instead had to do it on a Tuesday when all of us mortals have to work the next day. We will talk tomorrow.” Louis starts walking toward the kitchen when Harry responds.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. You said you would come, I want you there.” The fact that Harry is trying to guilt him into going, enrages him.

“But I don’t want to be there!” He screams and nothing will stop him now that he has started. “You have to give me some slack to do something I actually care about for just one day!”

Louis didn’t think before saying it, but it was out, and it was what he was feeling, but seeing Harry’s face fall after that makes him wish he had just kept it to himself.

“Tell me, how is this going to work if you don't care about what’s important to me? If you always need time to yourself when I need you to be there for me?” 

Niall honks again from outside, but Harry is looking at him expectantly.

“It’s not, harry!” Louis screams and it seems like everything is stunned into silence after that. “This is not going to work because neither of us wants to make concessions, we don’t want it to work. This was never forever, and we knew it.”

“You know what, Louis?” He grabs his jacket and shoes and starts to head towards the door. “I’m not even sure I wanted it to.” 

He slams the door and Louis knows, without needing Harry to say it, that this is it.

* * *

“Oh, look, Nicky, it’s going to rain tonight, we better go out now.” He says when he hears thunder in the distance.

They go on a walk around the block and when they get in again, he sits in his bed trying to choose a movie to watch with Nicky lying beside him.

He decides to go down and make some popcorn when the doorbell rings.

* * *

Harry gets inside Niall’s car and slams the door closed.

“Woah, easy!” Berates Niall but then looks at him confusedly. “Wait, where is Louis?”

“He is not coming.” Harry inhales sharply. “And you better not mention him for the rest of the night unless you want me to start crying in the middle of a party.”

“What happened?” Niall looks worried and puts the car on park.

“We broke up,” Harry really tries not to cry but it’s a lost battle, “but please start driving, I have work to do.” 

If Niall doesn’t mention his tears while they are on their way and helps him get himself together before entering the party, then that’s the reason he’s his best friend.

* * *

When Louis gets into the car, having changed into jeans and a decent t-shirt for the sake of his task, it just has to be his luck that it doesn’t turn on.

He tries for around 20 minutes until it sounds like the car isn’t even trying to turn on and decides to just walk. He doesn’t take Clifford because while 40 minutes don’t seem too long when you’re going to hopefully recover the love of your life, they might for a dog who is exhausted from playing and running around.

While he is walking the night starts to cool down significantly after an incredibly hot day and then suddenly, after the rumble of thunder, it starts pouring. He is drenched in less than five minutes.

If he had taken Clifford with him, he wouldn’t have doubted going back and trying another day, but as it is, he decides to just keep going, he’s already dripping, what is 15 minutes more under the rain?

When he gets to the door, he rings the doorbell and waits 10 seconds (he counts them) before the door is opened.

“What are you doing here?” Is the first thing Harry says, not unkindly, though.

“I’m still in love with you.” Louis blurts out and good thing he didn’t bother rehearsing anything on the way here because it would have been a waste of time. He certainly didn’t plan on saying that first.

Harry looks stunned at first but then a cold gust of wind blows and he shivers.

“C’mon, get inside, don’t stand there in the cold.” He rushes upstairs while saying the last part and Louis decides to stand in the doormat inside so he won’t get everything wet. When Harry appears again, he has a towel and some clothes in hand. “Take these and change, I’ll make you tea.” 

Louis changes in the downstairs bathroom and when he sneaks a look upstairs he sees that the light in Harry’s bedroom is on, but he’s too environmentally conscious to do that if there’s no one there. He hasn’t been able to read Harry in the brief moments they talked, but, what if he has someone over and he just feels pity for Louis? 

He enters the kitchen and sees Harry gripping the counter and breathing deeply. He clears his throat to avoid startling him, but he still jumps.

“Sorry.” Louis says in a soft voice.

“Don’t worry, my mind was just elsewhere-”

“No, I’m sorry for everything.” Interrupts Louis. “Sorry for coming here unannounced and maybe even unwelcomed.”

“You’re always welcome here.” Now it’s Harry who interrupts, and he says it with so much force, it gives Louis a little bit of hope.

“But I  _ am _ sorry, Harry.” Louis says with all the earnestness he can muster, “I thought of you today. For a moment this morning, I thought, what if the world ends and I never get to talk to him again. We haven’t talked in three months and all because I am a stupid, impulsive asshole.”

Harry shakes his head lightly and puts a cup of tea in front of him, but he doesn’t say anything at all. Louis takes it in his hands to warm them up and decides to just say everything.

“So I am sorry, for everything, and I get it if you never want to see me again, but-” His voice breaks and he has to clear his throat to be able to continue, “but I miss you. I miss you so much, Haz.”

This time he can’t fight it as his eyes well up, a single tear escapes.

He sees Harry approaching through blurry eyes, and before he knows it, he’s kissing him.

The kiss is too short for Louis’ mind to catch up, let alone respond to the kiss.

“I miss you too.” Harry says and then kisses him again, this time, Louis gives back as good as he gets.

“I have realized that I do want forever with you. I didn’t want to admit it before, but I do.” Louis says in between kisses. 

Harry giggles when they hear the soft sound of a dog's paws on the hardwood floor.

“I was in denial too, but I realized it when I went and got a dog two weeks after we broke up because I missed our life too much. Best decision I have made in my life.” He points to the little ball of hair that Louis has started petting. “Meet Nicky, she seems to really like you.”

While Louis is distracted scratching Nicky’s head Harry drains both of their cups of tea in the sink. Louis picks up his head when he leaves the kitchen and comes back with Nicky's leash.

“But-” Starts Louis.

“I know, we still have a lot to talk about. Believe me, I do know.” he clasps the leash onto the collar and Nicky immediately stands at his feet, excited about a walk. “But I miss Clifford and I assume this is going to take all night and I don’t want him to be alone.”

“I love you.” Louis is grinning like an idiot.

“I love you, too. Now let’s go.” Harry is smiling too but he succeeds more in hiding it (he doesn’t really.

* * *

As expected, they end up talking into the early hours of the morning. 

Louis and Harry compromise. They both vow to give more of each other and to do everything in their power to keep this forever.

There are some tears, but when they go to sleep they are cuddled into each other while Clifford graciously shares his bed with Nicky. 

At 7 in the morning, after only 3 hours of sleep, they are woken up by both their dogs jumping on the bed, but when they look at each other, they realize this is something they can live with, for the rest of forever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Kuddos and comments are always appreciated! More notes to be added once authors are revealed. XX


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